Gov. Cuomo Declares State Of Emergency

Governor Cuomo has now declared a state of emergency as a major winter storm has moved from the Midwest into Western New York and the Tug Hill Plateau region of the State.

The State of Emergency covers the following counties: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Monroe, Oneida, Orleans, Oswego, Wayne and Wyoming. The State of Emergency is due in part to the bone-chilling wind chill factor, which may be as low as 30 degrees below zero at times overnight into Tuesday.

The snow in the immediate Rochester area will only be up to around four inches on Monday night, with another few inches on Tuesday, but there is still a lake snow advisory for parts of Monroe County until 7pm Tuesday with higher snowfall amounts in those areas.

Snowfall amounts will be much higher to the south and west of Rochester, with blizzard warnings in some of those areas including Genesee and Wyoming Counties.

On Monday afternoon Cuomo announced that parts of the New York State Thruway in Western New York (near Buffalo) will be closed due to extreme winter weather conditions and he directed the State Emergency Operations Center to open at 8PM Monday night based on the forecasted winter weather conditions in Buffalo and Western New York.

A state of emergency mobilizes resources to local governments that otherwise are restricted to state use only and allows the Governor to suspend laws and regulations that would impede rapid response.